Cézanne rarely painted flowering plants or fresh-cut bouquets, which were susceptible to wilting under his protracted gaze. He included potted plants only in three still lifes, two views of the conservatory at the Jas de Bouffan, and about a dozen exquisite watercolors made over the course of two decades (from about 1878 to 1906). Cézanne seems to have reserved this particular table, with its scalloped apron and distinctive bowed legs, for three of his finest still lifes of the 1890s.

Bernard Dorival. Cézanne. [English ed., 1948]. Paris, 1948, pp. 57, 161, pl. 98, dates it 1890–94 and erroneously locates it as still in the A. Lewisohn collection; comments that Cézanne very rarely included plants in his still lifes.

Theodore Rousseau Jr. inThe Lewisohn Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1951, pp. 7–8, 13, 43, no. 13, ill., calls it "one of the most balanced, carefully carried out works of the master" and remarks that the arrangement of the apples and cloth have "a rhythm reminiscent of his landscapes".

Daniel Catton Rich inCézanne: Paintings, Watercolors & Drawings. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. [Chicago], 1952, p. 75, no. 83, ill., dates it 1890–94, and calls the still lifes of this period "among the most objectified and realistic of all Cézanne's work".

Theodore Rousseau Jr. "Notes." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 10 (May 1952), unpaginated, ill. on front cover (color), calls it "Still Life with Apples and Primroses" and dates it to the early 1890s; states that Cézanne gave it to Monet [see Refs. Raynal 1954, Howard-Johnston 1969]; remarks that "for many years it hung over the head of Monet's bed in his house at Giverny, and his widow refused to sell it in her lifetime".

Theodore Rousseau Jr. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures: Paintings by Paul Cézanne. 35, New York, 1952, unpaginated, ill. (color), dates it 1890–94; notes that it "has the same serious qualities as The Card Players" (MMA 61.101.1) and that its serenity recalls "The Gulf of Marseilles, Seen from L'Estaque" (MMA 29.100.67).

Lawrence Gowing and Ronald Alley. An Exhibition of Paintings by Cézanne. Exh. cat., Royal Scottish Academy Building. Edinburgh, 1954, unpaginated, under no. 40, note that the same pot of flowers appears in "Pot of Primroses and Fruit" (about 1888–90; Courtauld Institute of Art, London; V623, R639); based on the table, suggest that both pictures were painted at Aix and comment that they "precede the elaborately constructed groups of the nineties".

Stephen K-M. Tim. Letter to Charles Moffett. April 7, 1982, identifies the plant as a primrose and notes its particular similarity to the Chinese primrose, a species introduced into Europe for indoor decoration.

John Rewald. Paul Cézanne: The Watercolors, A Catalogue Raisonné. Boston, 1983, p. 221, under no. 542, lists this painting among three others depicting the same table, noting that the table also appears in several watercolors; adds that this table was likely "a prop the artist used in Aix and... the works in which it appears were executed there".

Charles F. Stuckey. Claude Monet, 1840–1926. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1995, p. 225, states that this picture was sent to Monet by Durand-Ruel in late March 1894, as a gift from Paul Helleu.

Gilbert T. Vincent and Sarah Lees inThe Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings. Exh. cat., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, Mass., 2006, p. 148, remark that Stephen Clark considered it for his first purchase of a Cézanne, but decided its asking price was too high.